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Magpies Duo In International Action
Written by Newcastle Utd
Moussa Sissoko and Georginio Wijnaldum were both in action for their respective countries over the bank holiday weekend
By Tom Easterby - Newcastle United Club Reporter
Newcastle United midfielders Moussa Sissoko and Georginio Wijnaldum were both in action for their respective countries over the bank holiday weekend.
Euro 2016 hosts France welcomed Cameroon to La Beaujoire-Louis-Fonteneau in Nantes on Monday for a friendly, with 26-year-old Sissoko named on the bench by manager Didier Deschamps.
Blaise Matuidi opened the scoring 20 minutes in for Les Bleus before Vincent Aboubakar's leveller just two minutes later. Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud restored France's lead just before the break but Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's late equaliser looked to have earned the Indomitable Lions a creditable draw.
But, with just seconds left, West Ham's Dimitri Payet won it for Deschamps' men with a fine curling free kick from long range.
Sissoko entered the fray as a 65th-minute replacement for Juventus' Paul Pogba, earning his 35th cap in the process. He will now hope to be involved as France host Scotland in another friendly on Saturday at the Stade Saint-Symphorien in Metz.
Wijnaldum, meanwhile, started for Holland in their 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland on Friday night.
Shane Long put Martin O'Neill's side ahead at the Aviva Stadium, and they looked to be on course for victory by the time Wijnaldum was replaced by former Magpies loanee Luuk de Jong with eight minutes remaining.
And it was de Jong - the younger brother of United's Siem - who popped up with the late leveller for the Dutch, nodding in just a couple of minutes after his introduction.
Wijnaldum could again line up for Holland when they face Poland in a friendly in Gdansk on Wednesday night.